Archive for June, 2008

Rock snot: Even worse than the name sounds

Friday, June 27, 2008

An exotic alga known as didymo, or “rock snot,” has been discovered in Maryland and might be headed for West Virginia.

As described in the Sunday Gazette-Mail, didymo coats the rocky bottoms of trout streams and chokes out the insects trout feed upon. Maryland officials believe fishermen are spreading didymo by failing to wash their waders after fishing infected streams.

Apparently, the organism can live for quite a while in the felt soles of anglers’ wading shoes. Great! Something else to worry about…

Posted in Environmental Issues, Fishing, West Virginia | No Comments »

Some guys have all the luck…

Friday, June 27, 2008

By the time Jim Dunlap of Alum Creek, W.Va., returned from a recent fishing trip to Florida, he’d already caught a 50-inch dolphin (the fish, not the mammal) and a 7-foot sailfish that weighed at least 100 pounds.

That probably would have satisfied most fishermen. But shortly after Dunlap returned to the Mountain State, he went out and caught a 24 1/4-inch smallmouth bass — nearly a stare record for length!

The full story of Dunlap’s remarkable spring ran on the Woods & Waters page in the June 22 Sunday Gazette-Mail.

Posted in Fishing, West Virginia | No Comments »